Title: InSAR Scientific Computing Environment
Author: Eric Gurrola
Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of
Co-Authors: Paul Alan Rosen, Gian Franco Sacco, Walter Szeliga, Howard Zebker, Mark Simons, David Sandwell

Abstract:
The InSAR Scientific Computing Environment (ISCE) is a software development effort within the NASA Advanced Information Systems and Technology program. The ISCE will provide a new computing environment for geodetic image processing for InSAR sensors that will enable scientists to reduce measurements directly from radar satellites and aircraft to new geophysical products without first requiring them to develop detailed expertise in radar processing methods. The environment can serve as the core of a centralized processing center to bring Level-0 raw radar data up to Level-3 data products, but is adaptable to alternative processing approaches for science users interested in new and different ways to exploit mission data. The NRC Decadal Survey-recommended DESDynI mission would deliver data of unprecedented quantity and quality, making possible global-scale studies in climate research, natural hazards, and Earth's ecosystem. The InSAR Scientific Computing Environment is planned to become a key element in processing projected DESDynI data into higher level data products and is expected to enable a new class of analyses that take greater advantage of the long time and large spatial scales of these new data, than current approaches.

At the core of ISCE is both legacy processing software from the JPL/Caltech ROI_PAC repeat-pass interferometry package as well as a new InSAR processing package containing more efficient and more accurate processing algorithms being developed at Stanford for this project that is based on experience gained in developing processors for missions such as SRTM and UAVSAR. Around the core InSAR processing programs we are building object-oriented wrappers to enable their incorporation into a more modern, flexible, extensible software package that is informed by modern programming methods, including rigorous componentization of processing codes, abstraction and generalization of data models, and a robust, intuitive user interface with graduated exposure to the levels of sophistication, allowing novices to apply it readily for common tasks and experienced users to mine data with great facility and flexibility. The environment is designed to easily allow user contributions, enabling an open source community to extend the framework into the indefinite future.

In this paper we describe the core processing algorithms and new computing environment. We describe the ISCE architecture and features that permit the desired flexibility, extensibility and ease-of-use. We summarize the feedback and lessons learned from user feedback at the InSAR Workshop to be held at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in March at which we plan to release an alpha version of the software to a select group of the experienced InSAR community. We will discuss plans for future testing and version release schedule in the third and final year of ISCE funding under the NASA AIST program.